Leo's Return
by Snuffles941
Summary: Picks up where The Blood of Olympus left off. Leo and Calypso leave Ogygia and return to the Mortal world.
1. Chapter 1

Festus finally blew out as land came within sight.

Leo had no idea where they were, but he was just happy to see something besides water. He didn't want to say anything to Calypso, but he was starting to wonder if they would ever see dry land again.

Land couldn't come at a better time. Festus wasn't in good shape when they left Ogygia and he didn't get much better as they traveled. As soon as the land came into sight one of Festus's wings sparked and thick smoke blew out of his mouth.

"Hold on!" Leo yelled and he felt Calypso's grip around his waist tighten.

Leo did his best to keep them stable as Festus crashed onto a cliff side and slid into a group of trees. Taking one out in the process.

It took all of Leo's strength to stay in place as Festus came to a stop.

"You just destroy everything around you don't you Valdez?" Calypso said with a laugh.

"Please," Leo said waving his hand. "One tree? Nothing compared to what I have done before. I didn't even set this tree on fire!"

Leo hopped down from Festus. It was good to be on solid ground again. He wasn't sure how long they had been traveling, but that wasn't his concern at the moment.

"How ya doing, Festus?"

Festus responded with various clicks that Leo managed to translate into "Ow!" He inspected him to see what the full damage was.

His left wing was still sparking and would need some repair, his leg was still damaged from the landing in Ogygia, plus other damage that was obtained during the battle Gaea. Leo would need more tools than what he could pull out of his belt in order to fix him.

He pulled a small notepad and a pen out of his belt and began to write as he took full inventory of the damage that would need to be fixed immediately Festus kept clicking what was hurting. Which was just about everything.

After making a quick inspection of his head to make sure everything was still intact he realized that Calypso had been very quiet during this whole thing.

He looked up and saw that she was standing near the edge of the cliff. Her arms were spread out and the wind blew her hair to the side.

She looked absolutely beautiful and Leo couldn't help, but smile.

"Hey Sunshine," he said, "having fun?"

She turned around with a huge grin on her face. The wind blew her hair in front of her eyes.

"We made it," She said as Leo came in close. "We really made it off that island!"

"Told you I would get you off," Leo said and Calypso hugged him.

"Thank you," she whispered in his ear which sent a chill down his spine. Leo wasn't used to these weird feelings yet. He had been attracted to plenty of girls before, but this was so much different. Of course he though she was beautiful, but there was something else there. Something that he had never expected to feel. He couldn't help, but wonder if this is what Jason felt like when he was with Piper.

"Jason…," he thought. He needed to get back to his friends. Surely they thought he was dead. First thing was first though.

"Don't thank me yet," Leo said as she pulled away. "We need to figure out where we are, and repair Festus. I got a list of things right here.

"Also we should find some food," Calypso said. "Your stomach has been growling louder than Festus the last couple of hours.

"Has it?" Leo asked. In response his stomach rumbled like a baby Cyclopes that caused Calypso to laugh.

"Yeah food would be good as well," Leo responded. He looked to his left and saw a town not too far from the cliff.

"Well that seems as good a place as any to get started," he said.

"Great!" Calypso exclaimed. She looked over at him and her smile faded a bit. "Though we should probably get you some new clothes before we go…"

Leo looked down at himself and noticed that his shirt was completely shredded and barely hanging on to his body. His pants were a bit better, but not by much. At least they were still intact.

Calypso walked over to Festus and untied one of her bags from his back. She opened it and pulled out a white shirt.

"You can use this for now," she said as she tossed it to him. "I'll make you some new clothes while you fix Festus."

"This is a girl shirt!" Leo exclaimed.

"Well, you shouldn't have destroyed your shirt!" Calypso yelled. "I still don't know how you managed to pull that off."

"I was saving the world! That's what I was doing!"

"Just put it on so we can go," Calypso said.

"Fine." Leo took what was left of his shirt off and put on the new one. The long sleeves only made it a little past his forearm and the front was pretty loose. All in all it was comfortable so he didn't complain.

"Beautiful," Calypso said with a smirk.

"You're just jealous that I look better in this than you."

"Shut up, Valdez." She leaned forward and kissed him. Leo felt like Jason just hit him with a lightning bolt.

"C'mon," he said grabbing her hand. "Let me show you what you have been missing all these years."


	2. Chapter 2

Three months

That's how long Leo had been gone. He stared in shock at the newspaper that had the date November 1st. He couldn't believe that he had been gone that long. The last time he went to Ogygia he had only been gone for a couple of days.

"How long was I dead?" Leo wondered.

He asked Calypso how time worked in the Mortal World compared to Ogygia and she had no idea.

"Once I was put on that island I didn't leave until now," she said. "I'm the wrong person to ask how time works."

They were sitting at a small café eating. At their feet were a couple of bags filled with food from a nearby grocery store and some things that he found in the hardware store across the street from the café.

The parts weren't the best quality for a mechanical dragon, but Leo was confident that they would do the trick until he could find better materials.

Leo continued to read the newspaper out loud to Calypso to gain some more information on what was going on with the world.

According to the paper they were in Newport, Oregon. There wasn't anything that hinted to the events that had happened on August 1st. Probably because it was November and the mortals had already forgotten anything unusual that had happened during that time.

"Nothing bad as far as I can tell," Leo said happily. "A few problems that are always around, but nothing that seems to be Demi-God related." He put the paper down and took a bit out of his ham and cheese sandwich. He couldn't remember a sandwich tasting that good before.

"I guess dying makes food taste better," he said. "What do you think?"

Calypso had the same thing. It was about half eaten and she was staring at the rest of it. She didn't seem as comfortable and confident as usual. Maybe because she wasn't used to the mortal world yet.

"It's…different," she replied. "Not bad. Just different."

"Just wait until I show you my famous tofu tacos! You are going to love them!"

"Tacos?" Calypso asked confused.

"You don't know much about the world now a days do you?"

"When the Gods rarely came to visit they would inform me on some things that were happening, but seeing it is different from hearing about it."

"Yeah bet… Well you will get used to it. After all you got Leo to show you around. You couldn't have chosen a better person to show you all the ins and outs of the 21st century."

"Does being part of the 21st century involve destroying trees?"

"Shut up…"

"Kind of," someone at a table next to them said.

Leo and Calypso looked awkwardly at the man for a second and Leo figured it was time to leave.

The next two days Leo did what he could to fix Festus. Luckily the damage on his wing wasn't too bad. It took Leo a couple of hours, but he made it so Festus could fly again. The rest of it didn't look too good.

Festus's leg was in bad shape. Leo did what he could with the materials that he found in town and in his belt, but it was only a temporary fix. Festus would feel some pain there, but there wasn't anything else Leo could do about it until he got back to Camp Half-Blood.

While Leo worked Calypso kept herself busy with her weaving. She made Leo a new set of fire proof clothes for him to wear. She even made a second set in case he managed to ruin these ones.

On the third day Festus was starting to get impatient.

"Hold on, buddy I'm almost done," Leo said as he put the finishing touches on his leg.

Festus clicked impatiently and blew smoke from his nostrils.

"Ok, ok I'm done now! You happy?"

Festus clicked in response.

"Is he always like this?" Calypso asked.

"He has developed an attitude since I rebuilt his body." Festus clicked and squeaked a little bit.

"You know it's true!" Leo yelled. "You drama Queen."

Festus blew smoke all over him.

"So that's the thanks I get? I spend all that time rebuilding you and for what?"

"Click, pop!"

"Shut up," Leo coughed. He turned to Calypso who was trying hard not to laugh.

"You two are like children," she said.

"Well…he is…" Festus blew more smoke into him and Leo's body became completely black.

Now Calypso was laughing.

"Stop it," Leo grumbled.

That made Calypso laugh even harder. Leo loved her laugh. He tried to stay mad, but couldn't. He started to laugh as well.

Stepping forward Leo started to smear the soot all over Calypso's arms.

"Hey!" Calypso yelled while trying to get away. "Stop it!"

"What's the matter Sunshine?" Leo laughed. "Can't take a little mess?"

Calypso jumped back and Leo sized her up. Her clothes were stained like his and her face and arms were covered with black spots.

Pretty soon they were both laughing. Even Festus joined in with some squeaks.

"So is Festus ready to fly?" Calypso asked once she calmed down a bit.

"Yep. He is ready to travel anywhere. I couldn't quite prepare his leg, though. I need better materials for that.

"So where to now?"

"Wherever you want to go," Leo replied. "Where do you want to go first?"

"What about your friends? Shouldn't we let them know that you are alive?"

"They think I have been dead for three months. They can wait a bit longer."

"But-"

"No," Leo said cutting her off. He took her hand and looked into those beautiful eyes. "You have been stuck on that island too long. You're the priority right now. What do you want to do?"

"…That's sweet, but we can't keep your friends in the dark."

"Ok how about this. We go somewhere that you want to go first and then we will head to Camp Half-Blood. Deal?"

After a moment she leaned forward and kissed him. Leo still wasn't used to that.

"Deal"

"Excellent! Where to?"

"…I want to see snow."

Leo leaned forward and kissed her this time.

"Snow it is!" He towed her over to Festus. "All aboard the Leo express!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Leo."

"Hold on," he responded with a grin.

"Leo," Calypso said in a frustrated tone.

"Were almost there."

"Valdez!"

"What? You wanted to see snow so I am taking you to see snow." They were on Festus's back in route to a location where Leo knew there would be some good snow.

"Yes, but is the blindfold necessary?"

"Completely!"

"Why? I like being able to see!"

"You don't trust me?" Leo asked with a smile.

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Hey! Stop it. This is going to be a great surprise."

Calypso sighed and held onto him tighter. "Just don't let me fall."

"Yeah that would set us back a little."

"A little!"

"Hey give me some credit. I am not like Frank. He's the expert at dropping people while flying. I learned that the hard way…" He shook his head to get the memory of falling from the sky into a civil war fort out of the way so he could refocus on his task. "How are we doing Festus?"

"Click, click."

"You're in luck Sunshine! Festus says that we are almost there!"

"Almost where?"

"You'll see soon enough!" Leo felt one of Calypso's arms detach from his waist and slap him multiple times in the head.

"Ow!" Leo complained. "Why are you hitting me?"

"Because I can," Calypso said with a laugh.

They flew in silence for a few minutes through the clouds until Festus clicked a few times to notify Leo that they had arrived.

Festus went into a dive and out of the clouds Leo could see a land with a number of trees which were blanketed with white snow. He could feel the temperature drop, but it didn't bother him much. Glancing down he noticed that Calypso was starting to get goose bumps one her arms.

"We almost there?" She asked.

"Festus is just looking for a place to land," he answered.

A few minutes later they landed in a small clearing. When Festus landed his leg buckled a little causing him to jerk to the right.

"Whoa there!" Leo exclaimed while holding on tight to the saddle. "Are you ok there buddy?"

"Click, squeak!"

"Is he ok?" Calypso asked.

"Yeah, he's fine. Leg still needs some work, but it's holding up." He jumped down from Festus's back and grabbed Calypso's hand to help her down.

"Can I take this thing off of me now?" She asked.

"Almost," he replied. He reached up into one of the bags tied to Festus's sides and pulled out his coat that she had made for him back when he was on Ogygia. "Here put this on. It will help keep you warm."

She spread her arms out as Leo helped her into the coat. It was a little big on her, but Leo figured that it would help to keep her warm. He stepped behind her and untied the blind fold.

"And presto! We have snow!"

He pulled the blindfold away and watched as Calypso took her first look at the snow. Her eyes went big as she took in her surroundings. Slowly she looked down at the snow that went up to her ankles. She stomped a few times to make tracks in them and inspected them closely. She bent down and put her hands in and started to trace a pattern with her finger.

"So…," Leo said. "What do you think?"

"I…love it!" A huge smile burst forth on her face and her eyes lit up the area. She started to let loose in a way that Leo hadn't seen before. She started to dance around the area, kicking up snow and letting it fall onto her head. "This is amazing!" she joyfully exclaimed. For the first time she seemed to notice what coat she was wearing and looked over to him.

"This is your coat. What are you going to wear?"

"I'll be fine," he responded. "You need it more than me."

"Won't you be cold?"

"Nah." He waved his hand like it was stupid question. "One advantage of being able to summon fire is that the gold doesn't affect me very much." Her head tilted to the side a little and she raised one of her eyebrows skeptically.

"Trust me Sunshine I will be fine." He bent down and balled some snow up in his hand. "I would worry more about yourself."

"Why would should I lo-" Leo's snow ball nailed her in the side of the face which caused her to stumble back a step.

"What was that!" she yelled while glaring at him.

"It's called a snow ball," he replied and started to laugh. "You have never seen one before?" He tossed another one and made a direct hit with her shoulder.

"Stop it!" she shouted while Leo continued to laugh.

"What are you going to do to stop me?" he asked as he threw another one which hit her in the stomach.

"You are so dead, Valez!"

Their war began. Leo sprinted into the trees with Calypso not far behind. He dodged between a few trees before stopping and making a snowball. He stepped away from the tree as a snowball flew past him; only inches from his ear.

"You're going to have to do better than that!" he yelled and through his ball at her which missed and hit a tree. He went back on the move for a few yards and hid behind a tree. Reaching down he got a new snowball and pressed himself against the tree; listening for sounds of pursuit.

He stood silent for a couple of minutes when something cold and wet hit him on the side of the head. Getting icy water in his ear.

Leo turned to his right and saw Calypso standing there and laughing so hard that she was nearly bending over.

"How did you find me?"

"I followed your tracks you idiot," she gasped between her laughing. "You should have seen the look on your face when you got hit!"

"You are going to pay for that one!" He went straight for her and she ran away. Leo was faster though. He scooped up as much snow as he could and dumped it over her head.

"Ah!" she screamed as she got covered in snow as Leo started to laugh. Catching him off guard she tackled him and they both fell into the snow and rolled around for a moment.

He ended up on his back laughing along with Calypso. He looked over at her. She was on her back as well. Her smile consumed her entire face. Her mouth was wide, her eyes sparkling, even her wet hair seemed to be shining. She was laughing harder than Leo had heard so far. All of her clothes were wet and covered with snow, but she didn't seem to care. Leo could have laid there and watched her all day.

He reached over and took her hand and she locked eyes with him. There was so much that could have been said, but Leo decided to keep things silent. The things that he was feeling with her right next to him, as he looked into those gorgeous eyes, was enough. He just wanted to stay in this moment as long as he could. Just stay here with her and forget everything else in the world.

When Leo first saw Calypso sure he thought she was beautiful. Who couldn't? However her initial attitude made it so that Leo saw her no different than anyone else. Sure she was pretty. So what? There were plenty of pretty girls in the world. Leo would know. He had gotten rejected from a good number of them throughout his life. With Calypso it was different though. She wasn't just a pretty face. Leo knew who she was. He knew what her personality was really like and the kind of person that she really was. Leo had never really paid attention to things like that before. With Calypso he wondered how he could not notice. What was really attractive to him was who she was. The person on the inside. He could see all of that within her and that made her even more beautiful to him on the outside. It made him feel a little bad for never trying to get to know all those other girls that he was attracted to because of their looks.

"So what do you think about snow?" he asked finally breaking the silence.

She squeezed his hand and didn't break eye contact with him. "It's even better than I remember. It has been too long." She squeezed his hand again. "Thank you so much."

"Anytime…" He stared at her for a moment longer then sat up. "C'mon. Let's go find Festus and build a fire. I don't want you turning into a Calypsicle on me."

"Yeah a fire would probably be nice." He helped her up and she started to hug him.

Leo enjoyed kissing, but he absolutely loved it when she hugged him. He always got a warm feeling within him. He wasn't quite sure how to describe it except for nice. It felt nice and he never wanted it to end. Sure he had only known her for a short time, but he didn't think he would ever get tired of hugging her.

**So here is the story so far! I fully intend to continue until he makes it back to his friends at least. Maybe longer than that I don't know yet. **

**I have always thought that Leo and I have similar personalities so I think that he would feel the similarly when it comes to Love. So a lot of the stuff from this story, particularly this chapter, is generally my beliefs on these situations. Hope you are enjoying it and please leave a review below to tell me what you think and any suggestions that you have! Thanks for reading!**

** Also I was going to mention in this chapter where they are, but wasn't sure how to fit it in. They are in Canada near where Frank lived. Leo knew that would be a good place to go for snow because Frank had previously told him about the winters in that area. **


	4. Chapter 4

Festus clicked to notify Leo that the camp would be in sight in five minutes.

The pit in his stomach got bigger as he scanned the fog; waiting for it to come into view.

"Nervous?" Calypso asked.

"What me? Nah! What makes you think I am nervous?"

"You are starting to tense up more and a few minutes ago you blew fire out of your nostrils."

"I did?" Leo asked surprised that he had missed that.

"So why are you nervous? Shouldn't you be happy to see your friends again?"

"I am…it's not that…"

"Then what is it?"

"Well…the last time I visited Camp Jupiter I kind of…launched an attack on it…"

"You attacked it?"

"Not intentionally of course, but…I don't know how they are going to react."

"I am still wondering how you unintentionally attacked the Camp. Did your face cause an uproar?"

"Watch it."

"Or the smell."

"I don't smell!"

"You are just used to it so you can't smell it."

"You know I could throw you off this dragon."

"Pft please. Festus would throw you off before he would allow you to toss me."

Festus clicked in agreement.

"I don't need you taking her side!" Leo shouted over Calypso's laughter.

Suddenly the fog thinned and Leo saw it.

The camp was a little different than he remembered it. Of course the last time he was there it was only for a couple of hours so it wasn't bad that he couldn't remember it very well.

To his left was the city of New Rome. The place that he had bombed while being possessed by that eidolon.

Apparently the Romans had waited a while to get started on repairs of the buildings that had been damaged. In the distance Leo noticed wooden frames around holes in buildings that were under construction.

He turned his gaze to the right and saw the barracks where the Campers stayed and trained. What really drew his attention was in the center of the area out in the fields.

It was a war zone. Leo saw a fort set up with Roman Soldiers attempting to attack it.

Leo remembered Jason explaining that the campers at Camp Jupiter did this every once in a while. Essentially their version of Capture the Flag that those at Camp Half-Blood played.

"Why are we coming here again?" Calypso asked. "I thought that all your friends were at Camp Half-Blood."

"They were when I left, but some of them are from here. After three months I figure that they have come back here. Worth a look since we were close to it."

By now Festus was starting to descend near the fort. The commotion around the fort came to a halt and Leo saw some of the people pointing at them. It was hard to miss a giant metal dragon flying through the air.

The pit swelled into a watermelon once Festus landed. Within a few seconds the Romans had surrounded them with weapons drawn.

"Uhh…hi," Leo said and tried to force a smile. "Remember me?"

A painful silence fell as no one made any moves to get any closer or to respond.

"Stand down!" A familiar voice yelled. Leo quickly scanned the crowd in search of its owner when something pulled him from his seat.

If hugs could kill Frank Zhang would have been the best assassin out there. Leo felt like he was going to snap in half before he was released.

Frank still clung to Leo and pulled him up so Leo was at eye level with him; his feet dangling off the ground.

"You survived!" Frank shouted almost like a question. "You're really here right now."

"Told you I had a plan Zhang," he responded. Smiling was coming easier to him now. "Did you ever doubt me?"

Frank answered by pulling him into another crushing hug and cutting off his ability to breath.

"Zhang!" Leo gasped and Frank came to his senses.

"Oh…sorry," he replied and released Leo. He collapsed on the ground gasping for breath for a few seconds before he regained his composure.

"I already died once, buddy. I would rather not do it again anytime soon."

"I can agree with that," Frank was grinning from ear to ear and his eyes were starting to get a little watery.

"Hey! Don't start crying on me big guy," Leo said raising his hands up. He was starting to remember that everyone was still there and were fixated on what was happening. "I don't want-"

"Leo?" Another familiar voice said from behind him.

Leo turned and was face to face with Hazel. She was in full battle armor. Arion stood behind her with Hazel's sword attached to his waist.

"Hey Hazel," Leo said a little choked up. The moment didn't last. Before Leo could say anything else Hazel punched him in the jaw.

"You have been alive this whole time!" She screamed as she continued to hit him. "You have been alive and you didn't tell us! Where have you been? It's been three months!"

"Hazel I-"

"No!" She yelled as she slapped him across the face. "Do you have any idea how worried we were about you? We thought you were dead!" She shoved him and he stumbled back into Frank.

"We went along with your stupid plan and deceived everyone! Only to have you die while executing it! Now three months later we find out that you survived and you didn't have the decency to let us know!"

She stepped back and drew her sword. She swung around and aimed it right at his heart.

"Uh…Frank," Leo said. "A little help here…"

"Sorry buddy," Frank responded. "I'm staying out of this one."

"Hazel I-"

"No Valdez! Your time for explanation is up! I want to know what you were doing that was so important that you didn't have the decency to tell us that-"

"Hazel!" Leo yelled and nodded towards Festus. Hazel turned around and spotted Calypso. She looked from her to Leo back to Calypso and back to him.

"Well…that's still no excuse…"

"I can explain why it took so long," Leo responded raising his hands in surrender. "I didn't plan on it happening this way."

"You better have a good reason," She responded and dropped her sword. She lunged forward and pulled him into a fierce hug. When she finally pulled away Leo noticed that her eyes were watery.

"I'm glad you're alive," she said.

"Me too," Leo replied with a grin. Before he knew what was happening Frank had him in another bear hug.

"Ribs, Zhang! Ribs!"

Frank released him while laughing and Leo couldn't help, but smile.

"Well this is cause for a celebration!" Frank yelled. "Everyone I would like you to welcome back Leo Valdez! The crazy Half-Blood that helped defeat Gaea!"

Everyone started to cheer and Frank wrapped his arm around Leo's shoulders.

"C'mon," he said. "You have a lot of explaining to do!"


	5. Chapter 5

Frank led them to the mess hall and a celebration began.

He explained in detail who Leo was so everyone knew what he had done. Once that was over everyone went to eating and talking amongst themselves.

Many of the campers came over and slapped Leo on the back in offer of congratulations. Leo couldn't remember ever having so much attention. Well…positive attention anyway.

He and Calypso sat next to each other around the low tables. Frank was around the table corner to his left and Hazel to the right of Calypso.

Hazel had calmed down and was cheerful. She was being really nice to Calypso. When they left the field of Mars Hazel went straight to Calypso and towed her to the Mess hall. She hadn't left Calypso's side. The whole time talking to her and introducing her to all the people that came up to greet Leo.

At first Calypso was a little distant, but soon she warmed up to Hazel and soon the two of them were getting along like old friends. Leo was very grateful to Hazel for making Calypso feel welcome. He actually felt himself getting a little teary eyed over it.

"Leo?" Frank asked. "You listening?"

"What?" Leo replied while turning his attention back to Frank. "Sorry I spaced out."

"I was asking why it has taken you so long to get back to us. What were you doing?"

"I want to know the same thing. What happened after the earth mother and I went sky high?"

"No, no, no," Hazel said. Apparently she had been listening. "You are the one that left us in the dark for three months. You tell us first."

"Ok, ok," Leo said and raised his hands a little. "Well…the last thing I remember is a lot of fire and an explosion…actually I also remember seeing something like a screaming fireball hit us right before the final strike."

Frank and Hazel exchanged glances before looking back at him. Leo paused for a moment and continued.

"Anyway…I don't know how long I was…gone. The next thing I remember is Festus and I flying around. Not long after we landed in Ogygia. There we found…" Leo glanced at Calypso not sure how to continue. He didn't want her to feel uncomfortable with too many details. Under the table she slipped her hand into his and winked at him while her hand squeezed his.

"Once Leo landed on his face on the beach," She continued for him, "we left that island far behind and came back here."

"How did you find Ogygia?" Hazel asked. "I thought once you find it once you never find it again."

"Maybe for others that is true," Leo stated and smiled. "But for me anything is possible."

"But how did you do it?" Frank asked.

"Back in Bologna when Jason and I cornered those dwarves I found an old navigation device that was made by Odysseus. I found that it needs to be powered by some kind of crystal. A crystal that I found on Ogygia the first time I was there. I figured out how to work it and built it into Festus as I rebuilt his body."

Leo continued with his story. He told them about landing in Oregon and finding out that he had been gone for three months. Calypso then took over and talked about their detour to Canada and coming here.

When it was all over there was a brief pause before Hazel responded.

"So…why did you come here first? Didn't you think that Jason and Piper would be at Camp Half-Blood?"

"Yeah they're your best friends," Frank added. "They are going to be pissed when they find out that you came here first."

"Not that were not happy that you did," Hazel said quickly.

"I don't know…I guess I was a bit scared to go back to Camp."

"Why? You knew that Gaea was defeated. The world didn't end."

"Yeah, but that didn't mean that Camp Half-Blood didn't get destroyed in the process…or even if it survived I had no guarantee that everyone survived…I guess I figured that coming here would be the safer choice to start with."

"You don't have to worry about anything," Frank said. "We all survived. Even Nico and Reyna."

"They did?" Leo asked, his spirits lifting a bit.

"Of course!"

Frank launched into his story of how the battle went from the ground while Leo was up in the air.

"And then when Octavian fired on Gaea he got caught and flew away with the missile…he died."

"So that's what that fireball was," Leo said. He kind of felt bad for the guy. Octavian may have been a selfish jerk, but that seemed like a harsh way to go.

"After it was all over we all stayed at Camp Half-Blood for a couple of days before we came back here."

"Frank and Reyna are the Praetors now," Hazel said. "He has been doing a great job. A natural leader."

"I wouldn't say that," Frank said sheepishly. "Reyna is the one who has been doing all the work really. I'm still not sure what I am doing."

"Frank is being modest. Reyna has commented multiple times how good he has been."

"Where is Reyna anyway?" Leo asked suddenly realizing that it was weird that she hadn't made some kind of appearance yet.

"She is in Camp Half-Blood for the week," Frank replied. "She was getting stressed out and needed a break from all the repairs, and organization that we have been doing constantly since we got back. She'll be back in a few days."

"Ah ok…So what has everyone been up to the last few months? You two seem to be doing well here. What about the others?"

"Well Jason and Piper stay at Camp Half-Blood," Hazel explained. "They decided to go to school in New York. They go there during the day and return to Camp after school. Jason is also working on keeping his promise to make sure that all the minor gods are recognized at the camp. Chiron is working with him on where they are going to build everything within the camp.

"Percy and Annabeth are going to high school together. They visit the camp often, but live in the city with Percy's mom and step dad. Annabeth has gone back to working on designing the new Mt. Olympus."

"Oh yeah," Leo said. He had forgotten that after the Titan War a lot of damage had been done to Olympus. Annabeth had been put in charge to redesign everything. Though her work was cut short once the gods shut down Olympus around the time Gaea started to wreak havoc everywhere.

"Glad to hear everyone is doing alright," Leo replied starting to lose concentration a bit. Hazel must have noticed because she gave him a concerned look.

"You ok, Leo?"

"Oh yeah I'm fine," he replied with a yawn. "I guess it's just starting to hit me of how little rest I have gotten. Never really recovered from our quest to the ancient lands. Been too busy with other things."

"Well you two are going to rest well tonight," Frank said and slapped Leo on the back. "You two can stay with the Fifth Cohort. How long do you think you will stay here?"

"I hadn't thought that far ahead," Leo admitted. "I am just kind of making this up as I go."

"You must stay for a couple of days at least," Hazel blurted and then quickly closed her mouth as if she had said something bad. "Well…if you want to of course. You probably want to go see the others."

"I do," he replied. "I probably should…" He looked at Calypso again and she gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand again.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"Whatever you want," Calypso said cheerily. "Though I think some rest would do you some good. And maybe we can repair Festus a bit before we leave."

"What's wrong with Festus?" Frank asked.

"Some damage sustained from the fight," Leo answered. "One of his legs is in bad shape and his wings weren't doing well when we first returned from Ogygia. I have managed to fix his wings well enough to get us back to Camp Half-Blood safely, but there isn't much that I can do about his leg until we get back. I'll have the materials in Bunker 9 to fix him."

"Oh ok." Frank replied with a puzzled look on his face. Probably thinking about something. "I don't know what kind of materials that you need, but you can have a look at what we have and use it."

"Thanks buddy, but I think we will be ok. I don't want to take any building materials away from you."

A brief silence fell between all of them as Leo poked at a slice of pizza that he hadn't eaten yet. All the talk had taken the hunger out of him.

"Well I don't know about you, but I am tired," Calypso said to break the silence. "Hazel could you show me where we are sleeping tonight?"

"Sure thing!" She said and stood up. She walked around the table and gave Frank a kiss on the cheek and said good night to him. She gave Leo one last hug and took Calypso's hand and towed her away while saying something that Leo couldn't make out.

"So…" Frank said. "How does it feel to be back?"

"Honestly it doesn't feel like I have been gone more than a few days," Leo replied. "It's weird to think that I have been gone three months."

"Yeah…" Frank replied and looked down at his empty plate.

"You look beat buddy," Leo observed.

"Being Praetor is tiring," he replied. "Especially with getting everything reorganized after the war and all the construction that is going on. It's crazy. I don't know how Reyna managed to do it on her own for nearly a year after Jason went missing."

"That's why I tend to stay out of leadership roles," Leo said with a smile.

"Sure supreme commander of the Argo II," he chuckled. They both laughed at that. Leo felt more at ease than he could ever remember feeling since before his mom died. It was a bizarre feeling, but he liked it.

"You know sleep is starting to sound like a good idea," Frank said while yawning and Leo yawned as well.

"I can agree with you on that. Lead the way Praetor!"

They got up and Frank led him out of the mess hall into the night sky. The fog had cleared up slightly and Leo could see a few stars in the sky. Out in the camp were some campers that were unwinding after a day of work with Lars running around everywhere.

"Hey Frank can I ask you and Hazel to do something for me," he asked after a minute.

"Sure what is it?"

"Can you not tell anyone back at Camp Half-Blood that I am back? I want it to be a surprise."

"Why do you want that? Wouldn't it be better to tell them that you are back? Send an Iris Message or something?"

"Maybe, but you know me. I like to make the grand entrances. It's why I didn't try to contact any of you as soon as I made it back from Ogygia."

"Ok I won't say anything and I will tell Hazel not to. Though I can't promise that word won't reach Camp Half-Blood before then. With the camps being friends now the info could be passed on pretty easily."

"That is a risk that I am willing to take," Leo replied. "We won't very long. Maybe tomorrow and then be off by then…of course we will come back and visit sometime though."

"Of course," Frank said. "You just need to see everyone first. We understand…actually…if you don't mind me asking. Why did you come here first?"

"I told you."

"Yeah, but I feel there is more that you are not saying."

"Well…" Leo said stopping where he was. "You two were the only ones that knew about my plan. Even helped me to pull it off…I guess I figured that I owed it to you two to let you know first that I was alive. I bet it wasn't easy to think I was dead and that it was due to something that you had helped me do behind everyone else's backs."

"No it wasn't," Frank affirmed.

"So I just wanted to come here first…it would have been a lot easier if you had all just stayed in the same spot."

"I had to come back to Camp Jupiter," Frank said defensively. He was about to launch into an explanation when Leo cut him off.

"Easy there big guy," he said with a smile. "I know why you came back here. I wouldn't expect anything else. I am just saying it would have been easier."

"It would have been easier if you had come back sooner," Frank retorted.

"Touché," Leo agreed as they continued to walk to the 5th Cohort Barracks.

**Quick question. Is this story moving at a good pace or is it going too fast? **

**I tend to spend a lot more time on my original story ideas than I do on this. Usually I rewrite a few times, but with this I am pretty much publishing the first drafts. Is it going good? I don't want this to become one of these stupid fan fics that are short and the story is rushed. I actually want it to be good. Write a review and let me know! I want to make this a good one and if that means giving it more time and attention to this story I will do it! **


	6. Chapter 6

Restless Leo didn't sleep very long.

His thoughts were consumed with the future. Both near and distant. His whole life he never had much thought for a future. It was always moving from place to place. Now he had friends and a home. He could do anything. That excited him and confused him.

Early in the morning he rose and went out to the Fields of Mars to check on Festus.

He worked for a couple of hours and started to make an inventory of what he would need to fix when he got back to Bunker 9. Frank's offer was nice, but Leo had no intention of using any of the Romans materials.

"They need it to fix New Rome," he muttered as he continued to work while trying to push his thoughts out of his head.

He lost track of time as he worked.

"Leo?" Hazel said from behind him. "You want some help?"

"No thanks," Leo replied without turning around. "I have it handled."

"Have you eaten anything yet?"

"Nope. I'll go get something soon. I am almost done."

"You sure?"

"Yes, Hazel I'm sure."

"Leo." He felt her hand touch his arm.

He sighed and turned around to look at her. Her eyes were full of concern.

"What?" Leo asked while forcing a grin.

"C'mon, Leo I know you too well," she replied. "You are working on something longer than you already need to, you have missed two meals-"

"Is it past lunchtime already?" He interrupted.

"Yes and you appear to be more restless than usual. I'm a little worried…"

"Don't you think that your worried is a little rushed?" Leo replied with a chuckled. "It has only been a few hours after all."

"Yeah, but after everything that we have been through…for you it's only felt like a week right?"

"Something like that."

"How are you doing with the aftermath of everything…you know…Gaea…end of the world and all. The rest of us have had time to deal with it. You probably feel like it happened yesterday."

"Honestly…I haven't even thought of it. But now that you mention it…" He slumped to the ground and leaned back against Festus. Hazel sat down next to him.

"Sorry…," she said.

"No don't worry about it," he answered while waving his hand. "It's over. Dirt face is gone, came back from the dead, no biggie."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I don't know…It's not that I think anything is wrong…it's just I'm a bit anxious."

"And…"

"Hmm…I don't know!" He threw his hands up in frustration. "I guess I am starting to think about what I am going to do next. Which is really weird for me."

"Why is that?"

"Because I have never had to deal with that before. My life has always been decided for me. Now I can do…anything. It's exciting and a bit…terrifying."

"I understand what you mean," Hazel replied nodding. "I felt the same way when Nico first brought me back…"

They sat there for a moment as Leo continued to think. Absentmindedly he picked up a rock and started to roll it between his fingers.

"Have you told Calypso about this?" Hazel asked. "She probably feels the similar. Maybe more so."

"No. She is kind of part of what I am so anxious about."

"What about her."

"It's stupid," he replied and shook his head.

"What is it?" Hazel asked.

"I guess I just wonder what will happen once we get settled in…what if she finds someone else she was trapped on that island for a long time. Maybe…I don't know."

Hazel started laugh and Leo looked over confused.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Because you boys can be so stupid," Hazel said. "Leo, I know I just met Calypso, but I see the way she looks at you. It's not just some little crush. She isn't going to leave you for the first person that she meets."

"You do make a point," Leo said starting to feel stupid himself and his stomach starting to growl. "I guess I am just new at this."

"You'll get used to it. And if someday you two don't work out then so be it. Enjoy it while you have it. I do hope it lasts a long time though. You deserve it."

"Yeah," he replied his stomach getting louder. "You sure you ain't a daughter of Aphrodite?"

She laughed they sat for a moment. Leo was starting to feel calmer. He always liked Hazel. She always seemed to know what to say to him.

"What do you think you are going to do now that there is no big quest?"

"I don't know yet. I'll go back to Camp Half-Blood and fix Festus. Then who knows. I'll have to talk to Calypso about what to do next."

"Well you two are always welcome here," she said and nudged him a bit.

"Thanks, Hazel." He smiled and he started to laugh. "I don't know about you, but I am starving!" He jumped to his feet and offered his hand to Hazel.

"You sure got over that fast," Hazel replied while taking his hand and pulling herself up.

"I wouldn't say I am over it," he replied. "Still don't know what I am going to do with my life, but right now my only concern is to get some food. Are you coming or what?"


	7. Chapter 7

The next day Leo and Calypso said good bye to the Romans and left for Camp Half-Blood.

Before they left Leo made a couple of improvements on Festus's wings to be sure that he could make the journey across country.

They flew for most of the day. When night fell they stopped for the night in a small woodland area.

"Where are we at?" Calypso asked as she jumped down into the snow.

"Don't know…," Leo replied as he fiddled with Festus's head where the Navigation system was. "Festus's navigation started to get fuzzy around Oklahoma. As far as I can tell we are in West Virginia or Tennessee…" He wiped off his hands and jumped down next to her. "Either way it won't take long to get to the Camp tomorrow."

"Alright then," she answered and started to walk away from him.

"Hey, Sunshine! Where you going?"

"To find some wood of course," she said like he was an idiot. "If we are going to be here all night we are going to need a fire." She placed her hand on a tree and turned her head so he could see her eyes. "You coming?"

Leo chuckled a bit and followed her.

Once they managed to find some dry wood they gathered near Festus and Leo set the wood a blaze. They sat down next to each other and leaned against Festus who clicked happily. Leo would keep the fire lit and Calypso would replace the wood when needed.

They sat for a while looking up at the stars. Leo was having a good time and sitting there with Calypso was helping to calm him.

"You excited about tomorrow?" Calypso asked.

"Of course!" Leo blurted. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seem a little nervous. Similar to right before we went to Camp Jupiter."

"No I'm good. Fine, fine, fine." He sneezed and fire shot out of his nose.

"Just fine," she laughed. "You always shoot fireballs from your nostrils when you are fine?"

"Ok I guess that I am a little anxious," he admitted.

"Why? You should be excited to see your friends. Even if they do beat you up like Hazel almost did."

"These friends could zap me with lightning and drown me with a flick of the wrist. Not that they would do that. Or at least I hope not. I am excited to see them."

"Then what is the problem."

"I don't know," he sighed. "I guess I just don't know what I am going back to. Before I was the guy who was part of the prophecy and all, but now…I don't know what the future holds for me."

"I kind of feel the same way…"

"Yeah sorry…I forget that you have been out of the real world for a long time."

"A very long time," she answered. "But I am not worried about it right now. I am just enjoying being off that stupid island…and being with you."

"Me too," he replied and he kissed her.

The next day they got up early and took off toward Camp Half-Blood. Festus's navigation still wasn't in perfect order, but Leo got it to work well enough so he could tell where he was going.

Around noon Leo saw the first signs of the camp. It was the one green spot surrounded by snow. Leo remembered how the camp had the ability to keep any kind of weather out if they wanted to. As they got closer Leo noticed something else. A massive statue through the trees. It took Leo a moment to realize that it was the Athena Parthenos.

"Here we are Sunshine!" Leo yelled. He couldn't help, but smile. Unlike when he flew into Camp Jupiter he felt excited.

Festus flew over the cabins and straight toward the big house. There were very few people out that Leo could see. It reminded him of the first day that he had come to camp.

Festus landed in an open area right next to the house. Leo jumped down and then helped Calypso. He was surprised that no one had noticed them coming in. The place was completely deserted.

"Welcome back, Leo Valdez!" A sounded from behind him and they both jumped.

Leo turned around and saw Chiron on the porch with a man wearing a shirt with dolphins and pineapples.

"Bacchus?" Leo asked.

"Dionysus," he replied with a puff as he took a sip of Diet Coke. "Mr. D to you. Now that the war is over I am back here looking after you brats. You would think helping you in that war would be good enough for my father to end my punishment, but here I am."

"I was wondering when you would be making your appearance here," Chiron said as he leaned back in his wheel chair and took a sip of what looked to be apple juice.

"You knew I was back?"

"Word of your return travels fast now that the camps are friends."

"Oh…so everyone knows I am back?"

"Only myself, Mr. D, and a couple of satyrs and nature spirits."

"You haven't told anyone yet?" Leo asked surprised.

"I figure that if you wanted the others to know you were alive you would have contacted them by now," Chiron replied as he started to move his chair to the edge of the steps. "I figured you would come back sooner or later."

He reached the edge and unfolded his horse body from the chair. Leo had always been fascinated by Chiron's chair. He never had a chance to inspect it, but he wanted to know how it worked.

Chiron trotted down the steps and sized up Festus.

"I see that you rebuilt Festus. He looks good."

Leo was amazed that Chiron remembered what Festus's name was. Suddenly remembering that Calypso was standing next to him he opened his mouth to introduce her. Though his mouth decided not to work right and it came out "Chiron this Leypso she like to calypso."

Mr. D snickered and took another swig of his coke. Calypso giggled and stepped forward as Leo's mind tried to make sense of what he just said.

"I assume he was trying to say that I am Calypso. It is good to meet you Chiron. I have heard quite a bit about you."

"The honor is mine Calypso. I am glad to see that you have finally gotten away from Ogygia. You have been there too long."

"You're telling me," she answered with a smile.

"Hey, Chiron where is everybody?" Leo asked. He wasn't expecting to have a welcome like in Camp Jupiter, but he was surprised that he flew a dragon in to the camp and none of the campers had made an appearance yet.

"It is the winter time and it is close to Thanksgiving. The camp is mostly empty of Campers. Today we have some activities going on, but mostly arts and crafts being put on by the Apollo cabin so the majority of the campers are inside at the moment.

"As for your friends. Percy and Annabeth live in the city and go to school together. They come and visit quite a bit on the weekends.

"Jason and Piper stay here at camp, but decided to go to school in the city as well. And you may be interested to know that Nico lives here as well. He hasn't left camp since the end of the war."

"Oh nice," Leo replied. "I guess I should give them a call."

"Already taken care of," Chiron said and winked. "As soon as Festus came within sight I sent word to them. I assume it won't be long before they arrive."

"Wow… thanks, Chiron." Leo wasn't sure how to react. Ever since he came to Camp Half-Blood he knew that Chiron liked everyone, but he never thought that Chiron was too fond of him. Yet here he was treating him like he was important.

"It is good to have you back, Leo," he said and pulled Leo in for a hug. Leo felt his eyes starting to sting with tears.

"Good to be back," Leo replied.


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry this took so long to update! Combination of Christmas and putting the finishing touches on my first novel have kept me busy, but I am back and there will be more updates coming soon!**

Leo gave Calypso a quick tour of the camp and then went to the mess hall for some lunch. While they walked Leo could feel the eyes of the few campers in the camp watching them from the windows of their cabins. Leo wasn't sure if that was because of him or from the massive metal dragon that was following them.

Calypso seemed to like the camp. Leo noticed that she particularly liked the lake and the strawberry bushes.

When they were done with the tour they went to the mess hall to get something to eat. The sun was about the middle of the sky.

Leo let Calypso go ahead and looked up at the sky as if to see if he could see anyone. He half expected Jason to come flying in through the clouds.

"VALDEZ!" A voice screamed behind him and before Leo could react a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist and tightened around him. He got lifted off the ground and then proceeded to be slammed on the ground.

"Get up, Cupcake!" Coach Hedge screamed and pulled Leo to his feet.

He was wearing a camp T-shirt on and a baseball cap on his head. He had a massive grin on his face that Leo rarely saw except for when he was watching a particularly violent MMA fight.

"Good to see you too Coach," Leo said as he shook out his shoulder.

"So you survived, eh? I always knew you were a fighter!"

"You did?"

"Of course! I did teach you everything you know after all!"

Leo started to laugh and Coach glared at him a moment before laughing as well. "It's good to have you back, Valdez."

"Good to be back, Coach," Leo responded and turned to Calypso. "Coach this is Calypso. Calypso this is Coach Hedge."

"Nice to meet you," Calypso responded and coach took her hand and kissed it.

"As long as we are making introductions I have someone that I want you to meet!" he stated excitedly. "Come over here!"

He pushed past them and led the way past a couple of tables where a small group was sitting and eating. Leo immediately recognized all of them. There was Mellie, Hedge's wife, and Clarisse was sitting right next to her. Leo also recognized and was surprised to see Nico Di Angelo, in his usual dark clothing, sitting across from Mellie and Clarisse. Next to him was a boy with blond hair. Leo recognized him, but couldn't quite remember his name. Maybe Will or something.

"Leo!" Nico exclaimed in surprise when he saw them approaching with Hedge. "Y-You're alive!"

"Last I checked," Leo said with a smile. "Nice to see you survived the journey to camp with Reyna."

"But what happened to you? We thought that you were dead…neither Hazel nor I could feel your presence."

"I was out of it for a while, but I came back."

"Wow," Nico replied.

"Valdez I want to introduce you to my son!" Coach announced. He went over to Mellie and Leo noticed that she was holding a little Satyr in her arms.

She handed him to Hedge and he turned around. "Valdez this is my son, Chuck!"


	9. Chapter 9

Leo and Calypso joined Nico, Hedge, and the others as the table. Hedge told them about what had been going on the last couple of months. Leo was particularly interested in the journey that Nico, Hedge, and Reyna had taken to bring the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood. In return Leo told his story of traveling to Ogygia and how he managed to survive the final battle with Gaea.

Jason and Piper were the first ones to show up. The few clouds that were in the sky darkened and lightning flashed in the area as they came charging into the clearing on the back of Jason's horse.

Leo watched them as they climbed down from the horse and the horse disappeared. They looked around for a moment and caught sight of him watching them. They stared at each other for a moment. To Leo it seemed as if they had seen a ghost.

"Well?" He called over after a moment. "You going to come over here and say hello or are you going to stand there like a couple of Midas's statues?"

They started to run over and Leo met them halfway. Piper got to him first and threw her arms around him.

"Leo!" She cried with her voice cracking a bit. She pulled back and looked at him in the eyes. "I didn't know what to think when we got the message from Chiron that you were back. But here you are."

"Leo!" Jason cheered and slapped him on his back before joining in on the hug. "How in the world did you survive that explosion? Even Festus survived!"

"How come it has taken you so long to get back to us?" Piper asked.

"Yeah where have you been?" Jason chimed in. "You have been gone a long time!"

"Well it's not like I planned to be gone for so long!" Leo replied defensively. Course for me it has only felt like a week."

"In the end it doesn't matter," Piper replied. "The important thing is that you are back with us now." She pulled him into another hug and Leo started to feel tears stinging his eyes.

"Did you ever doubt that I wouldn't make it?"

She answered by slapping him in the face.

Percy and Annabeth showed up at the Mess Hall not long after as Dinner was starting to approach. Percy was the first one who made it to Leo. He grabbed him by the shoulders and started to shake him.

"Where have you been?" He yelled. "Of all the hair brained schemes that I have heard of yours has to be the stupidest one!" He was shaking Leo so hard that Leo thought his eye balls were going to pop out of the sockets.

"Yeah like you have never been involved in any hair brained schemes," Annabeth said as she pulled Percy away from Leo.

"At least mine don't include making people believe that I am dead," Percy argued.

"Excuse me, Seaweed Brain? I remember you blowing up a volcano and giving everyone the impression that you were dead for a period of time."

"I…shut up," he responded and everyone laughed.

"It's good to have you back, Leo," Annabeth said and gave him a hug. "How did you survive?"

"That appears to be the question of the day my friend," Leo answered. "All of which will be explained soon. First there is someone that I want you two to meet." He turned and gestured to Calypso. "This my friends is Calypso…though I guess Percy has already met her…" He had forgotten that Percy had been stuck on Ogygia for a time a couple of years ago.

"Yeah…hey Calypso…," Percy said sheepishly.

"Hey Percy…" Calypso responded.

"Look I'm really sorry. I was an idiot and forgot about you…I was a terrible friend."

"Yes you were…but it's ok…it's in the past now. I forgive you."

"Hi, Calypso," Annabeth said. "I'm Annabeth. Founding member of the Percy is an idiot club. I have come to talk to you about joining."

After all that was taken care of things went well. The remaining campers showed up at the Mess Hall for dinner and a celebration was held for Leo returning and for Calypso finally being free after being stuck on that island for so long.

Once everyone had eaten Leo was requested, or more forced, to stand up and tell everyone the story of how he survived the battle with Gaea and what he had been up to since. So he did. As he talked everyone paid close attention to what he was saying. Never had so many people given him so much attention without him being trouble or having first done something incredibly stupid.

When he finished his tale he sat down and Chiron got up and spoke about how happy he was that Leo had returned to them and that all the mess surrounding Gaea could now be put behind them as they looked forward to a bright future.

Everyone cheered and started to talk amongst themselves when Percy stood up in the front.

"Hey!" He yelled and raised his hands to get everyone's attention. "I have one more thing to add before we move on! Leo will you please come up here?"

Not sure what to expect Leo moved up to the front and stood before Percy.

"As you may know Leo at the end of each summer we create a bead to add to our necklaces. Every year we try to choose a design on the bead to represent something big that happened during the summer. Since you are a live and not barbeque we want to present you with that bead. And we got you a new necklace since yours was…destroyed."

Percy reached forward and in his hand was a small leather necklace that had a small bead on it. Leo took it and inspected the bead closely. The background design was yellow, orange, and red which gave the appearance of fire. In the center was the head of a metal dragon which looked exactly like Festus.

"We chose this design to honor you…since without you we wouldn't have gotten far on the quest…we wanted to make sure that we and everyone else at Camp Half-Blood never forgot what you did."

Leo didn't know what to say. He looked down at the bead and back up to Percy. He couldn't stop the tears in his eyes from starting to stream down his cheeks as a lump in his throat formed.

Percy put a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

"Welcome home, Leo."


	10. Chapter 10

That night the camp released fireworks into the sky.

Leo had never seen the famous Camp Half-Blood fireworks, but found out that the real thing lived up to the hype. When they exploded into the air the colors danced and swirled in multiple directions which gave a fantastic display.

Leo rose early the next morning and wandered around the camp. It felt weird to be back in the Hephaestus Cabin and to sleep in his old bed.

Chiron invited Calypso to stay in the big house. She was invited to stay in camp as long as she wanted. She was being accepted and Leo was happy.

He kept walking until he found his way through the forest and found himself in front of Bunker 9. He opened the door and walked around the old place. He had spent so long working on the Argo II here.

"That seems like a lifetime ago," Leo muttered.

Festus was curled up to the side of the bunker and raised his head when Leo entered.

"Hey buddy. Should we take a look at you and finally fix that leg?"

Festus got up on the platform and Leo went to work. He lost track of time and eventually Calypso showed up.

"How did you find me?" Leo asked with a smile.

"Jason and Piper said you would probably be here," she replied.

"I got up early and decided to come work on Festus."

"Are you ok? Being back here and all?"

"Yeah to be honest with you. It's weird being back, but I am glad to be back. I was more nervous to come back and now that it's over its all about what is coming next."

"What do think you are going to do next?" She came up next to him and sat down on a bench.

"I don't know yet," Leo answered honestly. He had been thinking about it a lot, but he wasn't sure where to go from here. "I could do whatever I want…what about you what do you want to do?"

"I think I want to travel a bit. See how much the world has changed…but eventually I want to settle down somewhere. Actually chose where I want to live instead of being forced to live somewhere. I really like it here. Maybe live here for a while."

Leo put down a wrench and closed a panel on Festus's leg and turned around to face her. He sat down on the bench next to her and looked over at her. She looked as beautiful as always. He didn't even notice what she was wearing. Just her face and eyes, those eyes, was all he needed to see. It wasn't just her physically. It was like her inner beauty was shining through and making her even more beautiful.

"Actually I do know what I want to do…and where I want to go."

"Oh yeah? Where is that?"

"Wherever you're going," he replied as leaned in and kissed her.

"Sounds like a plan to me," she answered.

The End


End file.
